Your back contains some of the largest muscles in your upper body, and it is vital both for powering your everyday movements and making a big physical impression.
A strong back will support almost everything you do: from lifting to carrying heavy weights and decreasing your risk of injury. Aesthetically, a broad V-shaped back is an unmistakable visual sign of strength and power.
In this article, we’ll review twenty of the best back exercises you can do to build a broad, thick, and strong back.
Back Muscle Anatomy
Your back contains around a dozen large muscles with different shapes and functions.
It is beyond the scope of this article to provide a detailed explanation of all of them, and instead, we’ll focus on the major back muscles.
Below are three of your largest back muscle groups and a very brief explanation of their main functions:
- Back Extensors. These are mainly your erector spinae and multifidus, which run along your spine between the vertebrates, all the way from your sacrum up to your neck. The main function of this muscle group is to extend your spine, like in a deadlift.
- Latissimus dorsi. The broad “wings” on the sides of your back. The lats originate in your lower and middle back and insert into your upper arm bones. Their main function is to pull your upper arms closer to your body, like in rows and pull-ups.
- Trapezius. The large “bull-neck” muscle that begins at the middle of your back and ends at the bottom of your skull. It originates from the midline of your back and inserts into your shoulder blades. It pulls your shoulder blades back (or up or down, depending on what you’re doing) and stabilizes them. Beneath your traps lies your rhomboids, which are similar in function.
While this might seem like a lot of different muscles and functions, you can work them all with some simple heuristics or a few different types of movements:
- A back extension. Like a deadlift, back extension, or kettlebell swing.
- A horizontal pull. Like a barbell row, seated row, or dumbbell row.
- A vertical pull. Like a lat pulldown or pull-up.
Performing these movements will also work most of the smaller back muscles not included in the muscles list earlier.
Below, we’ll go over some of the best back exercises, covering movements of all the three types listed above to develop both your lower and upper back muscles.
Then, we’ll take a look at how you can put the back exercises together into an effective back workout.
Let’s get into it!
1. Deadlift
The deadlift is one of the most classic barbell exercises and one of the barbell lifts in which you can lift the most weight.
This exercise will work the back extensors along your entire spine, as well as your trapezius. But really, the deadlift works your entire posterior chain of muscles, including your glutes and hamstrings.
The barbell deadlift is hard but excellent for adding thickness and strength to your back.
Muscles Worked in the Deadlift
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Deadlift with Proper Form
- Step up close to the bar so that it is about over the middle of your foot.
- Inhale, lean forward, and grip the bar.
- Hold your breath, brace your core slightly, and lift the bar.
- Pull the bar close to your body, with a straight back, until you are standing straight.
- Lower the bar back to the ground with control.
- Take another breath, and repeat for reps.
2. Rack Pull
The rack pull is a variation of the regular deadlift where the barbell is elevated off the floor by placing it in a rack, on low blocks, or a pair of thick weight plates as I have in the GIF above.
By removing the initial pull from the floor from the lift, many people find it easier to focus on their back muscles. Most people can also lift more weight in the rack pull than they can in the conventional deadlift.1
Muscles Worked in Rack Pulls
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Rack Pulls Properly
- Set the bar at desired height, using a rack or blocks.
- Step up close to the bar, so that it is over the middle of your foot.
- Inhale, lean forward and bend your knees slightly, and grip the bar.
- Hold your breath, brace your core, and lift the bar.
- Pull the bar close to your body with a straight back, until you are standing straight.
- Lower the bar back to the rack or blocks with control.
3. Deficit Deadlift
The deficit deadlift is the opposite of the rack pull: instead of placing the barbell on an elevation, you stand on one yourself.
This increases the range of motion, especially for your leg muscles. The deficit deadlift is a great catch-all exercise for your back and lower body and is also said to strengthen the start of your deadlift.
Muscles Worked in Deficit Deadlifts
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Deficit Deadlifts
- Stand on an elevation of optional height (i.e. a weight plate), and stand close to the bar, so that it is about over the middle of your foot.
- Inhale, lean forward, and grip the bar.
- Hold your breath, brace your core slightly, and lift the bar.
- Pull the bar close to your body, with a straight back, until you are standing straight.
- Lower the bar back to the ground with control.
- Take another breath, and repeat for reps.
4. Good Morning
The good morning is a pure hip hinge exercise that primarily targets the spinal erectors in your lower back.
It is easy to choose too heavy weights in the good morning, with form deterioration as a result. The key to this exercise, like many others, is to start with light weights and focus on form and working the right muscles.
The good morning is a popular accessory exercise in many squat programs for powerlifting.
Muscles Worked in Good Mornings
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Good Mornings
- Place the bar on your upper back. Inhale and brace your core slightly, and unrack the bar.
- Take two steps back, and place your feet slightly wider than hip-width.
- Inhale and hold your breath, and lean forward by hinging your hips. Imagine that you are trying to push your butt back as far as possible.
- Lean forward as far as you can with a straight back, and without the bar rolling forward.
- Your knees will bend slightly, but most of the movement takes place in the hips.
- With control, stop and reverse the movement, extending your hips again while exhaling.
- At the top, inhale and repeat for reps.
5. Back Extension
Perhaps the most classic exercise for your lower back muscles of all. While not exactly an isolation exercise (because your glutes and hamstrings are in on the work), the back extension is still a great way to focus on your lower back, without having to resort to heavy weights like in the deadlift.
Muscles Worked in Back Extensions
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Back Extensions
- First, adjust the machine: The top pad should be positioned against the top of your thighs.
- Step onto the machine and position yourself with your feet shoulder-width apart and your upper thighs against the top pad.
- Your upper body should be hanging off the edge of the machine, with your arms crossed over your chest or your hands behind your head.
- Hold a weight plate against your chest or a barbell across your shoulders if you want to use additional weight.
- Prepare to lift: Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, engage your lower back muscles to lift your upper body until your body forms a straight line.
- Hold this position for a second, then inhale as you slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position. Make sure to keep your movements slow and controlled, and don’t use momentum to swing your body up or down.
6. Kettlebell Swing
The kettlebell swing is the last exercise focusing on the back extensors on this list.
Besides being a great back exercise in its own right, the kettlebell swing has the added benefit that a kettlebell is cheap and doesn’t take up a lot of space, making it ideal for home workouts.
Performing kettlebell swings has helped me keep my back in shape for heavy deadlifts many times throughout the years and has also been useful for increasing my deadlift strength.
If you are looking for a simple exercise for keeping your back (and butt!) in shape that you can do from home, this is it.
Muscles Worked in Kettlebell Swings
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Kettlebell Swings
- Place a kettlebell on the ground, about one or two feet in front of you.
- Take a wide stance, lean forward and grip the kettlebell.
- Brace your core slightly, and swing the kettlebell back between your legs, while inhaling.
- Swing the kettlebell forward by extending your hip, while exhaling.
- Try to swing the kettlebell to about chest height.
- Repeat for reps and put the kettlebell back on the ground when you’re finished.
7. Lat Pulldown
Let’s move up from your lower back to your lats. The lat pulldown, like its name hints, might be the best lat exercise you can do.
The direction of pull and range of motion is ideal for working your latissimus dorsi, and you can easily adjust the resistance to your fitness level.
In addition to your lats, the lat pulldown works the lower parts of your trapezius, your rear delts, and your biceps.
Muscles Worked in Lat Pulldowns
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Lat Pulldowns Correctly
- Begin by adjusting the thigh pad to fit snugly against your thighs to prevent your body from lifting off the seat.
- Grasp the bar with an overhand (pronated) grip, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Sit with your thighs under the thigh pad, keep your chest up, and look at the bar.
- Pull the bar down towards your chest, leading with your elbows. Pull until the bar is below your chin or touches your upper chest.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the bottom of the movement.
- Exhale and slowly release the bar back up to the starting position.
8. Pull-Up
Another excellent lat exercise, and the purist sibling of the lat pulldown, is the pull-up.
This classic body weight exercise works similar muscles as the pulldown, but of course, the barrier to entry is higher with this exercise. You can adjust the resistance level by using a resistance band to help you get up or by adding weight in a weight belt to make it heavier.
Still, if you’re able to perform the pull-up, you have access to one of the best exercises for working your back, and all you need is a pull-up bar.
Muscles Worked in Pull-Ups
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do a Pull-Up
- Grip the bar with palms facing away from you, slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- Keep your chest up, and look up at the bar.
- Inhale and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar or the bar touches your upper chest.
- Exhale and lower yourself with control until your arms are fully extended.
9. Chin-Up
Tired of the old pull-up? Or does it feel wonky in your elbows? Try the chin-up!
The chin-up is a pull-up with a supinated (underhand) grip. While an under hand overhand grip actually doesn’t seem to make a significant difference in terms of muscles worked, a lot of people find that they are slightly stronger with an underhand grip.2 3
That means if you are trying to get your first pull-up, doing chin-ups can be a good first step.
Muscles Worked in Chin-Ups
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Chin-Ups
- Grip the bar with a supinated grip (palms facing you), about shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your chest up, and look up at the bar.
- Inhale and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar, or the bar touches your upper chest.
- Exhale and lower yourself with control until your arms are fully extended.
10. Barbell Row
Moving on from vertical pulls to horizontal pulls, the barbell row (or bent-over row) is another of the most classic barbell back exercises.
Bent-over rows work your lats, traps, rear delts, and biceps and also work your lower back isometrically. This exercise is a staple in back and biceps workouts!
Muscles Worked in Barbell Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Barbell Rows With Proper Form
- Grip the bar with an overhand grip.
- Lean forward with the bar hanging from straight arms.
- Inhale and pull the bar towards you.
- Pull the bar as high as you can so that it touches your abs or chest, if possible.
- With control, lower the bar back to the starting position.
11. Pendlay Row
The Pendlay row, named after strength coach Glenn Pendlay, is a variation of the bent-over barbell row where you start and stop each rep with the barbell on the ground.
This can help take some of the work off your lower back, and make it easier to maintain good form.
Muscles Worked in Pendlay Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Pendlay Rows
- Lean forward by hinging in your hip, and grip a bar with an overhand grip.
- Pull the bar towards you, without otherwise moving your upper body. Pull the bar as high as you can, so that it touches your abs or chest if possible.
- With control, lower the bar back to the floor.
12. Dumbbell Row
The dumbbell row is another classic back builder, and a great dumbbell lat exercise.
Depending on how you perform the dumbbell row, you can probably target different regions of your back: row low towards your hip for lower lats and lower traps, and towards the side of your chest for more upper back and rear delts.
Muscles Worked in Dumbbell Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Dumbbell Rows
- Start by placing a dumbbell on the floor beside a bench or chair. Stand facing the bench or chair and place your left hand and left knee on top of it.
- Keep your back flat and parallel to the ground, with a slight bend in the standing leg. Grip the dumbbell with your right hand.
- Inhale and pull the dumbbell by driving the elbow toward the ceiling.
- With control, lower the dumbbell back to the starting position while exhaling.
- Complete desired reps on one side, then switch to the opposite arm and leg.
13. Cable Close Grip Seated Row
If you don’t like the barbell row, the seated cable row might be more up your alley. This exercise takes some of the load off of your lower back, leaving you free to focus more on working the rowing muscles of your back.
Experiment with using a close grip like above or a wide grip.
Muscles Worked in Cable Close Grip Seated Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Cable Close Grip Seated Rows
- Attach a narrow handle to the cable row, and assume the starting position.
- Maintain an upright posture with your chest out, shoulders back, and core engaged. Lean forward slightly and let your scapulae move freely by letting them slide forward to the starting position.
- Inhale, retract your shoulder blades and pull the handle towards your lower abdomen while leaning back slightly.
- Exhale and slowly return to the starting position by extending your arms and leaning forward.
14. Machine Row
If you want to remove all distractions and focus fully on your rowing muscles, try a machine row. In contrast to the barbell row or seated cable row, the chest-supported row doesn’t load your spine and lower back at all.
The only challenge is to actually find a machine that fits your particular anatomy and feels good.
Muscles Worked in Seated Machine Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Seated Machine Rows
- Adjust the machine to the correct settings and sit down in the starting position.
- Inhale and pull the handles towards you, as far as possible.
- Exhale and slowly return the handles to the starting position again.
15. T-Bar Row
The t-bar row is an old-school bodybuilding back exercise that involves pulling the weight in a fixed path, which requires less balance and coordination.
If you want more stability than the free weight barbell row but don’t want to do or have access to machine rows, the t-bar row is a great option.
Muscles Worked in T-Bar Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do T-Bar Rows
- Stand on the plate, lean forward, and grasp the bar with an overhand grip in straight arms.
- Inhale and pull the bar towards you as high as possible.
- With control, lower the bar back to the starting position.
16. Seal Row
The last rowing exercise on this list is a row variation that has gained a lot of popularity as a bench press accessory exercise in the last decade.
Like the machine row, the seal row completely eliminates the load on your lower back and allows you to focus fully on your rowing muscles. It also makes it easier to lift with a consistent technique, making progressive overload easier to track.
The only drawback is that if your gym doesn’t have a dedicated seal row bench, it can be a little tricky to set up.
Muscles Worked in Seal Rows
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Seal Rows
- Lie on your stomach on a bench, with a barbell placed on the floor below you.
- Grip the bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- Inhale and pull the bar towards you.
- Pull the bar as high as you can, so that it touches the underside of the bench if possible.
- With control, lower the bar back to the starting position.
17. Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown
Let’s get into the details. The straight arm lat pulldown is a lat isolation exercise that involves keeping your arms almost completely straight while pushing down on a bar attached to a cable pulley.
While hardly a compound exercise that works multiple muscle groups simultaneously, some people like this exercise for squeezing out the last bit of energy from their lats.
Muscles Worked in Straight Arm Lat Pulldowns
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Straight Arm Lat Pulldowns
- Grip the bar with a pronated grip (palms facing away from you), slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- With straight arms, push the bar down in front of you by contracting your lats.
- Slowly return the bar to the starting position.
18. Dumbbell Pullover
If you don’t have the equipment necessary for doing straight-arm lat pulldowns, you can opt for the old-school dumbbell pullover instead. Depending on how you perform this exercise, you can involve the chest or lats to varying degrees.
If you’re looking for a lat finisher, give it a whirl and see how it feels!
How to Do Dumbbell Pullovers
- Lie down on a bench and lift a dumbbell up to almost straight arms above you.
- Lower the dumbbell down behind your head, while keeping your arms almost completely straight, just with a slight bend in the elbows.
- Reverse the motion and return the dumbbell to the starting position.
19. Barbell Shrug
We have already looked at many exercises that work your traps: all deadlift and row exercises work different regions of your traps to varying degrees.
Still, if you don’t deadlift or want to focus even more on your upper traps, the standing barbell shrug is a classic.
To use even heavier weights, consider using lifting straps to make the grip easier.
Muscles Worked in Barbell Shrugs
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Barbell Shrugs
- Hold a barbell in straight arms in front of your body.
- Lift your shoulders straight up as high as possible.
- Lower your shoulders again.
20. Dumbbell Shrug
If you don’t like barbell shrugs, you can opt for dumbbell shrugs instead. However, because most people can lift pretty heavy weights in shrugs, the sheer size of the dumbbells necessary to get a good back workout might be impractical.
It is also probably a good idea to use lifting straps in this exercise unless you want your grip to be a limiting factor.
Muscles Worked in Dumbbell Shrugs
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Dumbbell Shrugs
- Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides.
- Lift your shoulders straight up as high as possible.
- Lower your shoulders again.
How Many Back Exercises Should You Do?
For complete back muscle development, you want to combine one back exercise of each type, as I mentioned earlier:
- Back extension. Examples: deadlift, rack pull, deficit deadlift, good morning, back extension, or kettlebell swing.
- Horizontal pull. Examples: barbell row, pendlay row, seated row, seal row, machine row, t-bar row, or dumbbell row.
- Vertical pull. Examples: lat pulldown, pull-up, or chin-up.
If you perform one exercise from each category and train it hard and progressively, you will work the majority of your back muscle fibers. If you want you can alternate which exercise from each category that you perform, to target slightly different muscle fibers.
Also, if you feel the need to fill out the last details, you can add isolation exercises like shrugs and straight-arm lat pulldowns.
But do one or maybe two back exercises from each category, and you will see great back development.
You can do one of each exercise in a single complete back workout or spread them out over the week; it doesn’t matter.
How Many Sets and Reps Should You Do of Each Back Exercise?
Depending on if muscle hypertrophy or strength gain is your number one priority, you should adjust the weights you use and how many reps you do per set accordingly.
While there is considerable overlap between the two, here is how each goal is generally best achieved:
- Strength is best gained from heavy weights and a low rep range, around 1–6 reps per set.
- Muscle growth is best attained from medium weights and a moderate-to-high rep range, around 6–15 reps per set or up to 20 reps per set.
If your goal is improved athletic performance and a stronger back, gravitating towards the lower rep range for a majority of your sets is probably a good idea, while you can use a higher rep range if you’re mostly interested in back muscle growth.
Alternatively, you can mix both high and low reps, as we do in our back workout.
The number of sets you do of each exercise has a large effect on your muscle growth and strength gain, where more sets lead to greater gains, up to at least ten sets per muscle per week for beginners.4
Note that this applies on a per-muscle basis. Ten sets of lat pulldowns don’t count toward your lower back training volume, and ten sets of back extensions don’t count toward your upper back volume.
The Best Back Workouts for Muscle & Strength Gains
Don’t want to design your own back workouts?
Then follow one of ours!
Below are some of our most popular workouts and training programs for a big, strong back.
They are all available in our free workout log app, although some workouts require a premium subscription.
Back Workouts:
- StrengthLog’s Back Workout
- Bodybuilding Back Workout for Mass
- Home Back Workout for Muscle Mass and Strength
- Back and Biceps Workout Routine
- Back and Shoulder Workout Routine
- Back and Triceps Workout Routine
Back Strength Training Programs:
- Deadlift Disco. 2x/week. Our deadlift program for powerlifting. Increase your deadlift 1RM and build bigger back muscles. Six weeks long, but possible to cycle through several times.
- Deadlift Builder. 2x/week. To pull big weights, you need big muscles. This program aims to increase your strength potential by increasing the mass of your deadlift muscles. Six weeks long.
- Bodybuilding Ballet. 4–6x/week. This is the program if you want tree-trunk quads, bulging biceps, and a massive back. This is an advanced bodybuilding program, and one of the most popular programs in our app.
To download our app StrengthLog and follow these workouts and training programs, use the buttons below.
I hope you learned something from this list of the best back exercises, and wish you good luck with your back training!
References
- Journal of Trainology. 2012 Nov;1(2):32-35. Isometric Strength of Powerlifters in Key Positions of the Conventional Deadlift.
- Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations. Dickie JA, Faulkner JA, Barnes MJ, Lark SD. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2017 Feb;32:30-36. doi: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2016.11.004. Epub 2016 Nov 28.
- J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Dec;24(12):3404-14. Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullup™ rotational exercise.
- J Sports Sci. 2017 Jun;35(11):1073-1082. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
